Project Name: Perovskite Solar Cells: Addressing Low Cost, High Efficiency, and Reliability through Novel Hole Transport Materials
Funding Opportunity: PVRD2
SETO Subprogram: Photovoltaics
Location: Golden, CO
SETO Award Amount: $192,530
Awardee Cost Share: $21,385
Project Investigator: Alan Sellinger
A very important component of a perovskite solar cell is the hole transport layer (HTL), which is generally the most expensive and a relatively unstable component of this early-stage technology. Currently, the state-of-the-art HTL is based on a lithium salt doped aromatic amine that is very difficult to prepare and has no paths to becoming cost-effective at high volume. This project is researching new HTL materials for perovskite solar cells to address the current bottlenecks, such as cost, tunable conductivity and energy levels, hydrophobicity, lithium-free dopants, and stability.
Approach
The research team is building off of preliminary lab results that examined different materials for HTLs without using encapsulation. The focus will be on materials synthesis, device fabrication, and testing. Chemists will perform HTL design, chemical synthesis, and materials characterization, while device engineers will perform device physics, fabrication and processing, and characterization.
Innovation
This project will enable thin-film perovskite solar cells that can reach efficiencies higher than 25 percent and lifetimes longer than 20 years, moving this technology toward commercialization. By increasing the highest occupied molecular orbital levels of HTLs, there will be a better understanding of how the device open circuit voltage, fill factor, short circuit current density, and lifetime are affected, which will greatly improve perovskite technology.